The present invention relates to an integrated power module, in particular to a folded flex bondwire-less multichip power package for high power densities.
Applications demanding high-power conversion such as voltage regulators for microprocessors, automotive electronics and telecommunications have introduced a trend to achieve higher power densities at lower cost. Consequently, to meet future power density requirements, integrated power module solutions rather than traditional discrete solutions are required. Integration of power electronics components (e.g. devices, IC""s, passives etc.) in a module format is, however, complicated by the presence in the module of a wide variety of materials.
Only recently, two commercial state-of-the-art multichip power packages for DC-DC power conversion have emerged, offering an integrated system solution.
A first kind of commercial package for voltage regulator applications involves a packaging architecture using ball grid array (BGA) technology. In a small footprint area of 11 mmxc3x9711 mm, a module using BGA technology houses, for example, two metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET""s), a driver chip and a few passive components on a multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) substrate. FIG. 1A is a partial cross section of a package 101 of this kind, which includes a MOSFET 102 and a passive component 103 on a multilayer PCB 104. Inside the package 101, interconnections to the MOSFET 102 are made with wirebonds 105, and copper traces 106 are connected to BGA solder bumps 107 on the back of the package 101 for board attachment. The connection to the BGA solder bumps 107 is by way of copper layers of the multilayer PCB 104. Molding compound 108 fills the package 101. The package thickness is 3 mm or greater.
A second commercial multichip package contains MOSFET""s and an IC within an area of 10 mmxc3x9710 mm, providing an integrated solution for voltage regulators for microprocessors. The package is based on a design, which uses a leadframe etched into a substrate, such as the MicroLeadFrame(trademark) (MLF) technology of Amkor Technology, Inc. of West Chester, Pa. FIG. 1B is a view of a package 109 using MLF technology, which includes a copper leadframe 116 on which a die 111, attached with a die attachment material 112 to an exposed die paddle 113, is mounted. Device interconnections inside the package are achieved with wirebonds 114, 115. The contacts (not shown) on the copper leadframe 116 are brought straight down to a PCB on which the package 109 is mounted. Molding compound 117 fills the package 109. The thickness of the package is 0.9 mm or more.
Power MOSFET dies contain three terminals (gate, source and drain) and thus only require a few terminal connections at the package level. Multichip solutions, however, such as those of FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B use, respectively, standard IC packages such as 132-solder bump BGA and 68-lead MLF. A 68-lead MLF pin connection and board layout design for the second type of commercial package is shown in FIG. 2A. In FIG. 2A the MLF package 201 comprises a split leadframe 202 and MLF pins 203. In FIG. 2B a solder bump BGA package 204 has array of BGA solder balls 205.
As can be seen, in particular, from FIGS 2A and 2B, these standard IC packages for power devices lead to a significant number of connection redundancies. Moreover, these designs have reached the limit of pitch requirement for board layout. For example, the lead connections for the commercial package using MLF technology require a pitch of 0.5 mm, which would be impossible to pattern on any copper plane thicker than 2 oz. Furthermore, complex lead connections and tight pitch requirements of these packages also complicate the thermal via design on the board, which is essential for proper thermal management.
Both presently available commercial packages use multiple wirebonds per device and IC interconnections to reduce the effects of high resistance of the wirebonds. Adding more parallel wires to reduce electrical resistance ultimately, however, reaches a limit (2-3 mxcexa9) and the process becomes significantly expensive.
There are then several areas for improvement over the design of the commercial packages now available. The structure of the module can be adapted to provide better thermal management. The module can be made thinner. More devices can be accommodated. The expense of providing multiple wire bonds to reduce electrical resistance can be reduced or avoided. Assembly of the package can be simplified if the number of pin connections or leads is reduced.
Hence, objects of the present invention are, among other things, improved heat transfer, decreased thickness of multichip power modules, allowing increased integration of functionalities within a power module package, eliminating wirebonds, allowing a design without leads, and simplifying I/O pin connections.
These and still further objects of the present invention will become apparent upon considering the following detailed description of the present invention.
Therefore, the present invention provides an electronic assembly or module which includes a multichip semiconductor package based on a folded single-layer flex circuit, without a leadframe. Flipchip studbumped semiconductor power dies and IC dies are attached to a patterned flex substrate; extensions of the flex substrate are folded and attached to the backside of the dies for electrical and thermal contact. The entire package is plastic molded and only the copper contact pads at the bottom of the flex substrate are exposed for standard surface mount attachment to any board.
A flipchip studbumped semiconductor die is one in which the die is electrically connected, through a conductive xe2x80x9cbumpxe2x80x9d on the die surface, to a package carrier so that the package carrier provides connection from the die to the package exterior. The package carrier may, for example, be a substrate or leadframe.
In the present invention, the studbumps provide very short and low resistance paths (less than 1 mxcexa9) for the device interconnects. Moreover, package inductance of the devices with studbumps can be reduced to 0.1 nH compared to 1 nH for a wirebond. Hence, in high-frequency applications, the packages of the present invention generate significantly less noise than the state-of-the-art solutions.
The present invention significantly improves thermal management over that offered by the existing solutions. Devices in the package are attached to a continuous flex substrate. Unlike a split leadframe (shown in FIG. 2A for an MLF module), heat generated from an individual device mounted on a continuous flex substrate has a wider area for dissipation.
The present invention also allows double-sided cooling as a result of its three-dimensional package architecture. Power MOSFET""s have drain connections on the backside of the dies. In conventional packaging approaches (e.g. BGA and MLF packages), the die is attached face-up on the substrate to allow for heat dissipation through the drain pads. Wirebonds used for attaching the source and gate pads (on the topside of the dies) provide only a limited channel to extract the heat from the die-topside. In an embodiment of the present invention, the devices are placed face down (flipchip) on the substrate with gold metal bumps on the source and gate, thus providing more immediate thermal dissipation paths to the board. The flex-substrate is also folded and attached to the drain contacts, thus adding another channel for heat dissipation to the substrate. Because of its three-dimensional construction, the package offers improved thermal dissipation from both sides of the devices in a very small board area. Heatspreaders may be attached to either or both sides of the package. At the same time, flipchip studbumps offer shorter interconnects, thus lowering resistance heating as well as parasitic noise compared to conventional wirebond packages.
The structure of the present invention with its flipchip-bumped devices provides a much thinner package for multichip power-modules than commercial packages now available. Thickness of a conventional power package is primarily dictated by the loop-height of the wirebond interconnections. Using flipchip-bumped devices and folded flex, the present invention can achieve a package profile of less than 0.6 mm, which is a significant improvement over the 3 mm for the package using BGA technology and the 0.9 mm thickness of the MLF packages.
The number of required pin connections for board attachment is also significantly reduced compared to the existing solutions.
Copper pads in the present invention can be thicker than 2 oz., making possible a larger pitch for the lead connections. Larger pads and pitch (1 mm or higher) allow easier SMT (surface mount technology) operations.
These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiment(s) described herein.